Welsh government uses Klingon to respond to serious UFO questions

An unusual foray into trilingualism for the devolved assembly.

The Welsh government has used the Klingon language to respond to serious questions about UFO sightings in Wales. Rather than the native tongue of an extraterrestrial warrior species that inhabits the Star Trek universe, English and Welsh are usually the official languages of Wales.

It all started when Conservative politician Darren Millar, the shadow health minister, tabled three questions for Labour's Edwina Hart, the minister for economy, science, and transport:

Will the minister make a statement on how many reports of unidentified flying objects there have been at Cardiff Airport since its acquisition by the Welsh government?

What discussions has the Welsh government had with the Ministry of Defence regarding sightings of unidentified flying objects in Wales in each of the past five years?

What consideration has the Welsh government given to the funding of research into sightings of unidentified flying objects in Wales?

The response from the Welsh government was as follows: "jang vIDa je due luq. 'ach ghotvam'e' QI'yaH-devolved qaS." Using the Ars Orbiting HQ's universal translation matrix, that roughly translates to: "The minister will reply in due course. However this is a non-devolved matter." A non-devolved matter, sometimes known as a reserved matter, is an issue that can only be resolved by the full UK parliament rather than the devolved Welsh Assembly.

Millar, a little miffed by the Welsh government's response, came back with a zinger of his own. "I've always suspected that Labour ministers came from another planet," he said. "This response confirms it." A spokesperson for the Conservative party also defended Millar's unusual line of questioning: "Darren tabled these questions after being contacted by constituents."

An official, probably bilingual response from Edwina Hart on the matter of UFOs in Wales will be made before July 15, though it likely won't contain a whole lot of information if it's a non-devolved matter.

There have been a number of alleged UFO sightings in Wales over the years, including a fairly high profile case on Berwyn Mountain in 1974. Declassified government files later suggested this particular incident was caused by the combined effects of a meteor and an earthquake, however. In general, Wales is home to a large number of Royal Air Force (RAF) bases. These are the probable basis for many of the UFO sightings instead of joyriding extraterrestrials.

Promoted Comments

Here's his official National Assembly photo. No wonder he's interested in UFOs.

231 posts | registered Oct 29, 2002

Sebastian Anthony
Sebastian is the editor of Ars Technica UK. He usually writes about low-level hardware, software, and transport, but it is emerging science and the future of technology that really get him excited. Emailsebastian@arstechnica.co.uk//Twitter@mrseb